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Campbell's review: poor quality soup 45

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9:24 pm EDT
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When I opened the can of campbell's chicken gumbo lite soup, I was horrified. It was all water with no broth and chicken, just a bit of rice. It tasted horrible and ruined my casserole.
What's worse, is that I called the customer service phone number listed on the can and I was to be chared $3.75 just to talk to them! How outrageous and what extremely poor customer service! I have a legitimate complaint, do not have access to the internet because i'm a senior and am having to ask my daughter to log a complaint because there is no venue for me to do so.
I should not be charged to give my opinion on the quality of the campbell's soup at campbell's nor should I have had to waste my money on the bad-tasting soup. I would have preferred the red and white lable but it was not available at the large grocery store, just the lite version was available.

Generic brand, I hope you're better.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

45 comments
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BigBrownEyes
Tustin, US
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Apr 14, 2010 12:08 am EDT

Sound like a scam to me.

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CampbellCares
Camden, US
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Apr 20, 2010 10:21 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hi Bekb,

We were sorry to learn of your mom's experience with our product and service. If we can be of any assistance, please call our toll free number, [protected] between 9 and 7 EST.

Thanks,
Campbell Cares Team

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Mbear
US
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Jun 03, 2010 11:43 am EDT

I agree! I have a sloppy joe recipe that my family loves. I use Campbells Chicken Gumbo soup, but since they changed it to light, it does not taste even close to the same. It actually made the sloppy joes unedible. I have complained to Campbell's, but their answer to me was sending me some coupons in the mail and no letter or anything to explain why they aren't still making the regular gumbo soup. Very disappointed! Glad to hear someone agrees. Maybe they will go back to the original.

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mettao
Crystal, US
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Jul 04, 2010 12:39 pm EDT

I agree also! Why would you change something that is so successful. What this soup did for Sloppy Joe's is legendary. Please bring back the original recipe and make it available on the shelves once again.

To others: (I haven't tried this yet) but heard that beef with barley soup does a good job. However I still want the
chicken gumbo original back:(

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Joanne Enciso
US
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Jul 02, 2020 11:14 pm EDT
Replying to comment of mettao

I have substituted with Chicken and Rice by Campbell's, but nothing compares to the Chicken Gumbo Soup.

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c grove
Goleta, US
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Aug 07, 2010 5:59 pm EDT

I am not able to find even the "light" chicken gumbo soup in my stores in Santa Barbara. Have you quit making the soup? I use it for the sloppy joe's receipt that I have used for years. I see that I am not the only one that is upset. Please let me know why I cannot find it in my stores and do you make the regular chicken gumbo soup anymore?

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poseypie1
Austin, US
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Nov 19, 2010 7:42 pm EST

I hate the Lite Chicken Gumbo. It is the worst tasting soup. I loved the original Chicken Gumbo. Why can't Campbell's just give people what they want? Why mess with a tried and true product? Not everyone in the world wants lite or healthy request. We just want what we grew up loving. No amount of "healthy" can replace comfort.

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donmid
Altadena, US
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Dec 02, 2010 2:16 am EST

Wife and I looked everywhere in SoCal without any luck. Our family has been making sloppy joe's for over fifty years using Campbell Chicken Gumbo - really sorry to see it vanish.

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deniseLW
Coon Rapids, US
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Dec 25, 2010 5:40 pm EST

I hate the new Chicken Gumbo too! We don't even make the sloppy joes anymore because the new soup makes it taste disgusting! :(

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newcastlelinda
US
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Feb 24, 2011 6:14 pm EST

Same here. We no longer have Sloppy Joes. We're now looking for some kind of replacement or new recipe. Any ideas?

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Volfamily
Monroe, US
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Mar 07, 2011 12:54 am EST

I also used the regular Chicken Gumbo soup in my recipe for Sloppy Joe's. I have to make a double batch with 2 teenaged sons, so I used a can of regular and a can of the "lite." I could immediately see a different in the thickness of the soups side-by-side, and ended up having to add extra salt for it to be edible. Campbell's, please bring back the good stuff!

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No longer a Campbell's Soup Fan
St Paul, US
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Jun 24, 2011 2:24 am EDT

I hadn't had my Sloppy Joe recipe using Campbell's Chicken Gumbo Soup for quite a while. I was really looking forward to making it. I could only find the "new and improved ? lite version" of the soup. When I opened up the can, and smelled it, I thought it smelled like lawn chemicals! It was awful smelling and awful tasting. Made the Sloppy Joes anyway- Big Mistake! Not sure why Campbell's would even put this out on the shelf to sell? No more Campbell's Chicken Gumbo for me!

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KJanko
US
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Aug 25, 2011 4:53 pm EDT

I recently tried using Campbell's Chicken Gumbo soup to make sloppy Joe's and it was so thin the meat was ruined. Why did they change it?! I didn't see anything on the can saying it was a "Lite" version. I would also like to complain that it is impossible to find Campbell's Cream of Shrimp soup in San Diego. We use that for shrimp dip and it is nowhere to be found here. Bah.

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CampbellCares
Camden, US
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Aug 26, 2011 2:34 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Thanks for reaching out to us. Sorry to tell you that there aren't any plans yet to bring it back, but we have forwarded your comments along. Check out www.campbellskitchen.com where we have recipes for Sloppy Joes that use a variety of our Campbell’s products. If we can help locate the Cream of Shrimp soup, feel free to call us at 1.800.257.8443 Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 7 PM EST.

Thanks,
Campbell Cares Team

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Cynthea
Roseburg, US
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Sep 03, 2011 4:46 am EDT

We have a family recipe I cannot find origin of for Meatloaf that uses Chicken gumbo soup and saltines. It is delicious and unusual, everyone loves it! I too have been concerned about the change. We are now on the third generation in our family using this recipe! My daughter just mentioned she noticed the light Gumbo Soup! I found this post searching again to see if anyone has origin of recipe. My mother died last year, and I think she said she got it from family member. I keep wondering if it was a Campbells recipe from 40's and 50's

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CampbellCares
Camden, US
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Sep 07, 2011 4:18 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hey, Cynthia, we did some sleuthing for you! That meatloaf recipe was developed in 1956, sadly it is no longer in our recipe files. We hope you will check out http://bit.ly/CampbellKitchenMeatloaf for a new recipe and possibly a start on a new family tradition? Thanks for reaching out.

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Lee A
US
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Sep 18, 2011 1:00 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have quit buying campbell's soup of any kind. I have used their gumbo soup for sloppy joe's all my adult life (I'm 67 now) and my mom used it when we wer kids in the late 50's or early 60's when we were kids. I have a choice Campbell's, I don't have to buy any of your soups. So much for caring about what your customers have loved for years. You are not the soup Nazi's nor the food police why not make both. So long Campbells.

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Lawdog73
Nichols, US
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Jan 16, 2012 7:27 pm EST

I miss the original chicken gumbo soup! Please bring it back! The light version is horrible and it ruins all my recipes. When I feel bad, I want chicken noodle, tomato and chicken gumbo soup with my cheese sandwich! Please bring it back!

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CampbellCares
Camden, US
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Jan 16, 2012 9:14 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Lawdog73, have you tried our Chunky Grilled Chicken and Sausage Gumbo? We even make a microwave bowl. Full of flavor, we think you’ll truly enjoy this soup! Let us know what you think!

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LauraDeane
Bristol, US
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Jan 29, 2012 2:43 am EST

I'm glad more people hate it too. I've complained about it to them myself but it doesn't matter. They just try to push their other products. Like above. But anyway, here's hoping.

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K.DeKraker
Jenison, US
Send a message
Feb 11, 2012 7:03 pm EST

Our school has used the BBQ/Sloppy Joe recipe with chicken gumbo soup for over 50 years. Sadly, now that the soup is so hard to find (is it really discontinued?) We will have to find a substitute. If anybody has a good substitute for the gumbo soup (I already noted the beef/barley soup and will taste-test that one first), please post it here and I will check back in later. Thank You!

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bksrmgc
Oakland, US
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May 23, 2012 11:44 am EDT

I am another of those who has grown up on using regular Chicken Gumbo Soup in my Sloppy Joe (we called it Saturday Night Specials as we had them every Saturday night) recipe. What was Campbell's thinking to discontinue this staple of their line. The light version, which I also can't find, is awful. Campbell's, you may not have plans to bring it back, but please, please, please change your mind. I was raised on it, my kids were raised on it, and they had planed to raise their kids on the family tradition of Saturday Night Specials made with regular Chicken Gumbo Soup. You have now broken a family tradition.

If anyone does find a remotely suitable replacement, please do let me know. Campbell's: Please bring it back.

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nnaannccyy
Saint-Colomban, CA
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Aug 23, 2012 11:33 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We still have chicken gumbo in quebec canada, so happyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

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k sansom
taylor, US
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Aug 28, 2012 6:41 pm EDT

Plz bring back the reg chicken gumbo for the sloppy burgers in school we had hot lunch and had them they were so good we called them yummy burgers now there not yummy plz don't let them be just a memory

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nnaannccyy
Saint-Colomban, CA
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Aug 29, 2012 11:18 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Come and get some in quebec, they still produce it here.

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Marlene Greger
San Diego, US
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Nov 24, 2012 11:13 pm EST

I have a wonderful sloppy Joe recipe from Minnesota. I moved to San Diego and can't find any chicken gumbo regular soup. Where can I get it here in San Diego?
Marlene [protected]

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GrammaSandi
San Pedro, US
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Jan 18, 2013 12:23 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

It's been so long since I've made the sloppy Joe's with Chicken Gumbo Soup that I was really hungry to taste that wonderful flavor again so I took the makings to some friends in order to fix them all something special to eat. How disappointing it was for me (and the guests) to not be able to partake of this because I could not find the Chicken Gumbo Soup in my local store or theirs either. Why would you take a good product off the market?

JuliePooh51265
JuliePooh51265
Lancaster, US
Send a message
Jan 18, 2013 12:31 pm EST

Try McCormicks Sloppy Joe mix. Don't know if it tastes the same but it's an alternative.

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Lite Ain't Rite
US
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Jan 29, 2013 10:41 pm EST

I Googled new recipe, thinking I had just eaten the regular version. It wasn't until I saw this thread that I even realized one of my favorite canned soups was now Lite. I will never buy it again. I guess Lite is the new Cheap. Way to save money and lose customers, Cambell's.

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WillkH
Medford, US
Send a message
Feb 25, 2013 11:25 am EST

Campbell's Cares? Really? Then why did you stop making a great product that has been enjoyed by many generations of your customers?

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Rgoody
Yarmouth Port, US
Send a message
Apr 20, 2013 10:24 am EDT

Please bring back the original Chicken Gumbo Soup! Everyone I talk to is so disappointed that its no longer available. Why don't you listen to what your customers want? There are so many of us.

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OhGoodGrief
US
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Sep 09, 2013 1:08 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Oh dear, I just bought 2 cans of the Light Chicken Gumbo hoping to remake a recipe my mom fed us as kids in the late '60s. I don't have a recipe name, only the ingredients without amounts: it has the soup, ground beef, yellow mustard, onions and egg noodles, fry the beef, boil the noodles, bake with crushed saltines or chips on top. I've tried searching for the actual recipe without success, but it sounds like with the change to 'light' soup, it probably won't be as good anyway. The soup I really miss is the Chili Beef, other than that, I'll only eat the Bean Soup with Bacon, and my son likes the chunky soups because it's "easy" for lunch.

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Erin lee1
US
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Oct 18, 2013 9:16 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

It is beyond me why a company would not keep a good product on the shelves. Makes me re think buying any of their products.

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Jeffsinger
Denver, US
Send a message
Sep 04, 2014 10:26 pm EDT

Please bring back the original chicken gumbo soup. I went to make thus comfort food and the light version doesn't make a
good substitute in this great sloppy joe recipe.

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S. Rysner
Evanston, US
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Oct 28, 2014 5:00 pm EDT

I had wanted to experience the taste of Campbell's Chicken Gumbo soup from my youth.
I can't find it and this site has told me what has happened. I subsequently have been
experimenting and feel Walmart's Great Value brand Chunky Grilled Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
is the closest to date to the "real thing". I rate it at 85% whereas all the others are 35% as coming
nearest to the original taste of the soup. The whole product is reminiscent with an average quality.
S. Rysner

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Brian H Oregon
Clackamas, US
Send a message
Apr 08, 2015 11:55 am EDT

I'm sorry, I realized as I posted this I forgot French Onion Soup as well...I adjusted it below and I'm reposting

Sloppy Joes Anyone? I went to the grocery store and I couldn't find Chicken Gumbo soup. I looked again and again and I finally checked online to see if they stopped making it or if the grocery store needed to get their "stuff" together. I saw this complaint string and realized I had to improvise. Sounds like they stopped making it. I grew up on the most fantastic sloppy joes I've every had ever! Chicken Gumbo soup was a key ingredient. I discovered a way to make outstanding sloppy joes that taste the same as the Chicken Gumbo recipe folks, and I thought I'd post this so you'd get a shot at it for yourself. I make mine in a big batch and freeze it, to use for other meals, it's perfect for camping or late worknights etc so you'll want to break yours down if you want to make a smaller batch, but here's what I did and it turned out great!

6 lbs Hamburger (93% lean)
3 Serrano Peppers
1 Pablano Pepper
2 large white onions
2 10.5 oz cans Campbell's Beef with Vegetables and Barley soup
1 10.5 oz can of Campbell’s French Onion soup
2 10.5 oz cans Campbell's Old Fashioned Tomato Rice soup
1 10.5 oz can Old Fashioned Tomato Rice soup
1 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce
2 cups prepared rice (cooked using chicken broth instead of water)
Ketchup & Mustard to taste

Chop and sauté onions and peppers (remove seeds and steps from peppers, and husk and outer skin from onions), then added beef till browned, drained fat, added canned goods, and finished with dash of salt, pepper, ketchup and mustard to taste. It was PERFECT! Try it, if you liked the old recipe, this is spot on! We're a family of 4, this is easily 2-3 meals. : ) Best of Luck!

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Child of the Sixties
US
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Oct 05, 2015 5:52 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I've started using chicken rice soup in my sloppy joes and buy frozen okra. I dice up the okra, into small pieces, 1 or 2 Tbls ( a little seems to go a long way) and add it to the soup and burger mixture. It adds the right taste and thickens the mixture. Big squirts of ketchup and mustard and it brings back all the memories of my Mom's sloppy joes.

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Southender
US
Send a message
Dec 25, 2015 4:15 pm EST

Tried to make the chicken gumbo sloppy Joes for my family a few years ago and it was terrible. I thought it was just another childhood thing that wasn't quite as good as I remembered. Didn't know Campbells had changed the recipe of the soup. My wife thought we were crazy for esting something so horrible. Worst part was we wasted 2lbs of meat.

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Gary Atkinson
US
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Dec 30, 2015 7:21 pm EST

I bought a couple of cans of the non-lite gumbo soup the other day. I was hoping to recapture that taste of the 50's when my Mom would make me this soup for lunch on cold, snowy days. I knew something wasn't right when I opened the can and it looked like colored water with rice added. After a couple of spoonfuls, I threw the rest away since it tasted worse than colored water. What the heck happened to the original recipe? If the new recipe is supposed to save the company money, it failed in my case since I will never buy another can of this horrible tasting soup. This must be Campbell's version of "New" Coke.

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Connie Richmond
US
Send a message
Jul 17, 2016 4:21 pm EDT

I also was raised on the original Chicken Gumbo soup. We ate it for lunch, when we were sick in bed, and in Sloppy Joes. I then raised my children on it, along with the Sloppy Joes. As a grandmother I've tried to continue the tradition, but like everyone else thought, the light soup tasted wrong and nasty. When the regular version came back on the shelf it had been changed. Now it has an odd, very hot flavor in it, which has ruined the soup. Why do you have to change the recipe? Was the company sold? Did you move production to another country? Whoever thought changing the recipe was a good idea should be fired.

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Joanne Enciso
US
Send a message
Jul 02, 2020 11:17 pm EDT

Campbell's Please bring back the Chicken Gumbo Soup to our stores in AZ. I ONLY used this soup to make a hand me down family recipe for Sloppy Joe's and I cannot find this soup anywhere. I have tried substituting with Chicken and rice but it's just not the same, PLEASE BRING THIS SOUP BACK!

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